What's Happening

Leslie Kantor, MPH

If you work in sexual and reproductive health, you know that the world today is different from the world of only a few years ago. Changes in social media and the digital environment affect norms, risks and behaviors among young people. I’m Vice President of Education for Planned Parenthood, and our organization has some promising new tools that combine what’s known about effective sex education with what young people like to do online. They provide a model that can be helpful across a range of health issues.

By ETR

Does Physical Education help with academics? What's the world of vaping really like? And just how important is social media? Sit back, kick up your feet and take a look at a few of our favorites among the videos that have run across our monitors this month.

By ETR | June 24, 2014

Brittany Chambers, MPH, one of ETR’s Kirby Summer Interns for 2014, brings with her a powerful combination of personal experience, educational achievement and commitment to the field. Our researchers are looking forward to working with her over the next few months.

Brittany met recently with Newsletter Editor Marcia Quackenbush to talk about her background, her vision and what she hopes to accomplish both in her internship this summer, and in her professional career. Here’s a report on their conversation.

By ETR | June 23, 2014

Our latest Quarterly Review is now posted and available for viewing if you’d like to see some of the work we’ve been doing over the past few months.

ETR’s incredible research and professional development groups have recently been awarded some exciting grants for projects that can help us understand and implement the best strategies for promoting healthy, fulfilling lives.

By Gina Lepore, MEd

Few people realize how little education doctors and other health care providers typically receive about sexual and reproductive health. Because such training is spotty at best, there’s enormous variety in health care providers’ comfort with and knowledge of sexual health and sexual practices. Unfortunately, patients often suffer when provider knowledge and comfort concerning human sexuality are poor.

By ETR

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has updated many of its resources, including several slide sets on epidemiology and the 2014 PrEP Guidelines on pre-exposure prophylaxis. One of our favorites is this page, which breaks HIV transmission risks into numerical calculations. Find out the best estimate for the risk of HIV transmission through needle sticks, vaginal intercourse, blood transfusions and more.

By Erin Cassidy-Eagle PhD | June 20, 2014
Previous Director of Research, ETR

While healthy sleep is important at all ages, it’s especially vital during the vulnerable time of adolescence. The challenges adolescents face at baseline, simply through the normal process of human development, are in many cases exactly those exacerbated by poor sleep. It's possible that helping young people achieve better sleep might ameliorate a whole range of other problems and challenges.

By Narinder Dhaliwal, MA

Have you ever heard, “You can’t work with Native Americans unless you are a Native American”? Not true! Yet we hear it over and over again from those who appoint themselves as the “gatekeepers” of Tribal Nations. California’s Clean Air Project (CCAP) at ETR has been building relationships and providing education and research to Tribal Nations in California since 2006. What we’ve found is that respect is the key.

By John Henry Ledwith

For those who work in a school setting, summer brings a number of specialized tasks designed to prepare teachers, schools and students for the year ahead. If you’ve received or are applying for grants that require HECAT-aligned health education programs, ETR can help you sift through the possibilities and make effective choices.

By Debra Christopher, MSM

If you deliver trainings or presentations, the tips in this ongoing column can help make your trainings more dynamic, engaging and effective. Try them and let us know what you think! This month, learn about using "Pocket Talk" for introductions, team-building or priming participants for the upcoming workshop.

By ETR | June 10, 2014

Brittany Nielsen, one of ETR’s Kirby Summer Interns for 2014, obtained her undergraduate degree at University of California, Berkeley, with a double major in molecular and cell biology and religious studies. She is currently pursuing her Master’s in Public Health at Brigham Young University, as part of a small program that emphasizes the science and practice of health promotion.

Brittany will be spending the summer working closely with ETR’s research team. She took a few minutes on her first day here to talk with Newsletter Editor Marcia Quackenbush. Here’s a report on their conversation.

By Jessica Colvin, MSW, MPH, PPSC

When you were in high school did you ever wish you had a safe place to get support? I’m lucky enough to work in a program that allows students to do just that. The Wellness Program helps students access services to support their emotional and physical health, and feel empowered to use those services when they need them. And not just while they’re in school, but beyond school and into their adult lives.

By ETR

It's video time! The power of short-form video reveals the dynamics of teen dating violence. Creativity can give you, and students, a more powerful and fulfilling life. White House Student Film Festival winners rock! 

Check out this month's collection of videos that have intrigued, delighted and challenged us.

By Marcia Quackenbush, MS, MFT, MCHES

Have you talked with someone about brain science lately? Media reports on neuroscience have been increasing over the past decade—a good neuroscience study can lead the evening news, and references to brain science are making their way into our everyday conversations. Over this same period, there has been genuine and sometimes spectacular progress in neuroscience, with new discoveries building understanding and treatment options for a range of medical and mental health conditions.

That’s great. But the brain is unfathomably complicated, brain science is complex, and you’ve probably noticed that popular media doesn’t always do justice to complexity. They often miss finer points of the science while emphasizing the sensationalistic. 

By ETR

If you like brain science, you'll love Edutopia's Five-Minute Film Festival: Learning and the Brain. Start with "Seven 'Facts' About the Brain That Are Not True" for some more folk neuroscience. Then watch them all!

By ETR

An article in the Journal of Pediatric Health Care offers a review of current literature on cyberbullying, including the particular features of this type of bullying, and how it affects victims. It describes the epidemiology (1 in 4 adolescents in the southern U.S. reported being a victim), identifies characteristics that increase risk for being a target, and explains what technologies are used most often. The article also offers an impressive list of resources for gathering more information and helping schools, communities, families and individuals.

Check it out here (may require free registration). >>

By Debra Christopher, MSM

If you deliver trainings or presentations, the tips in this ongoing column can help make your trainings more dynamic, engaging and effective. "Quotables" is an exercise you can use to introduce a topic, do team-building or invite participants to share something about their own perspectives or experiences.

By Matt McDowell

Quick: what do you think when you hear the words, “We really need to market that health program.” Or how about, “We could sure use some cutting-edge business tools to make this health program stronger.”

If you’re like a lot of people I’ve met in the worlds of public health, health care and nonprofits, you may be recoiling in horror—or at least shaking your head. Here’s what people often tell me about marketing and business tools.